CO129-338 - Public Offices & Others - 1906 — Page 39

This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.

35

AFFAIRS OF CHINA.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[33684]

No. 1.

40914

[October Rec

TREE 6 NOV 06

SECTION 7.

Mr. Carnegie to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received October 6.)

(No. 354.) Sir,

Peking, August 22, 1906. YOUR despatch No. 197 of the 15th June instructing me to furnish information respecting the intention of the Chinese authorities at Shanghac to establish an Administrative Bureau on the north of the International Settlement in a district where, it was stated, the Municipal Council exercised certain control in accordance with an arrangement made with the Chinese in 1899, was received after I had had the honour of addressing to you my despatch No. 316 of the 23rd July on the same subject. As will be seen from the last paragraph of my despatch, I asked His Majesty's Consul-General to forward to me copies of any documents he had in his archives relative to the special privileges reported to have been accorded by the Chinese authorities to foreigners in the Paoshan district. Sir P. Warren has informed me that his archives for 1899 contain no record of any correspondence with the Chinese authorities on the subject, and that inquiries made at the American Consulate-General and at the Senior Consulate produced no result.

It would therefore appear that if any arrangement by which foreigners were permitted to "police, sanitate, and make roads was ever arrived at, it was never embodied in any formal communication from the Chinese authorities. I have, however, received from Sir Pelham Warren translations of a letter from the Taotai to the Senior Consul, dated the 26th March, 1900, and of a Proclamation issued by the Magistrate of the Paoshan district, both of which I inclose. The former document was erroneously referred to as a Proclamation by the Senior Consul in his communication to the Doyen of the 29th May last forwarded in my above mentioned despatch. As will be seen the Taotai in his letter states that it has been arranged to permit foreigners to lease land in the Paoshan district outside the Settlement, and indicates the procedure to be followed in order to "mark the fact that the land is leased on different terms to those in force at an open port." I have asked Sir P. Warren to inform me of the nature of the reply sent to the Taotai by the Consular Body. The Proclamation authorizes the sale of land required for the construction of a road by foreigners in the above-mentioned district.

On

In my despatch No. 316 of the 23rd ultimo, I had the honour to inclose draft of a note to be addressed by the Diplomatic Body to the Chinese Government in regard to the establishment of this administrative Bureau or Municipality on the confines of the Settlement. As it was probable that a considerable time would elapse before the note was approved and signed by my colleagues-I may mention that it is still in course of circulation among them--I consulted the American Minister as to the advisability of our addressing individual protests against the scheme before the Taotai took action which it might be difficult to contest. Mr. Rockbill agreed, and we accordingly communicated notes to the Chinese Government drawn up in the same sense as the draft note. the 16th instant the Wai-wu Pu replied that the Taotai had reported that although foreigners had been permitted to acquire land in certain parts of the Paoshan district it could not be included in the Treaty Port area, and that the local government had always remained in the hands of the Chinese officials. The Board added that the establishment of a Municipality was necessary for the good government of the locality and that the interests of foreigners would not only not be injured but their property would be safe-guarded, so that it might be hoped that friendly relations would be strengthened.

In a note to the Wai-wu Pu, dated the 21st August, I controverted the statement of the Taotai that the district in question was not within the limits of the Treaty Port, and asserted the right of foreigners, which has been exercised for many years, to acquire land there.

I also pointed out that m aicipal organizations, as understood abroad, do not exist in China, and that, therefore, a suburb of the Shanghae Settlements where many foreigners reside should not be selected for the experiments mentioned by the Tuotai. In conclusion, I requested that instructions might be sent to him to desist from

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